EPA Finalizes New Emission Standards For Heavy-Duty Vehicles

On March 29, 2024, EPA announced new emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032. The rule, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3, regulates heavy-duty vocational vehicles such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, and public utility trucks and tractors such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks. The standards are touted by the Biden administration as the strongest ever. According to EPA, this rule will avoid approximately 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from 2027 through 2055.

The new rules will be phased in gradually. EPA divided heavy-duty vocational vehicles into three categories: light, medium, and heavy. The first reduction for light and medium begins with model year 2027, whereas the first reduction for heavy begins in 2029. For tractors, day cab tractor reductions begin in 2028, while sleeper cab tractors begin reduction in 2030.